Managing resources consolidation configurations

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for monitoring the performance associated with fulfilling resource requests and determining optimizations for improving such performance are provided. A processing device obtains and processes performance metric information associated with processing a request corresponding to two or more embedded resources. The processing device uses the processed performance metric information to determine a consolidation configuration to be associated with the two or more embedded resources. In some embodiments, in making such a determination, the processing device assesses performance metric information collected and associated with subsequent requests corresponding to the content associated with the two or more embedded resources and using each of a variety of alternative consolidation configurations. The processing device may also consider a number of factors, including performance selection criteria obtained from an original content provider. Aspects of systems and methods for generating recommendations to use a particular consolidation configuration to process a subsequent request corresponding to the content associated with the two or more embedded resources are also provided.

BACKGROUND

Generally described, computing devices and communication networks may beutilized to exchange information. In a common application, a computingdevice may request content from another computing device via acommunication network. For example, a user at a personal computingdevice may utilize a browser application to request a web page from aserver computing device via the Internet. In such embodiments, the usercomputing device may be referred to as a client computing device and theserver computing device may be referred to as a content provider.

Content providers are generally motivated to provide requested contentto client computing devices often with consideration of efficienttransmission of the requested content to the client computing deviceand/or consideration of a cost associated with the transmission of thecontent. Additionally, the content requested by the client computingdevices may have a number of components, which may require furtherconsideration of latencies associated with delivery of the individualcomponents as well as the originally requested content as a whole.

With reference to an illustrative example, a requested Web page, ororiginal content, may be associated with a number of additionalresources, such as images or videos, that are to be displayed with theWeb page. In one specific embodiment, the additional resources of theWeb page are identified by a number of embedded resource identifiers,such as uniform resource locators (“URLs”). In turn, software on theclient computing devices, such as a browser application, typicallyprocesses embedded resource identifiers to generate requests for thecontent. Often the resource identifiers associated with the embeddedresource reference a computing device associated with the contentprovider such that the client computing device would transmit therequest for the additional resources to the referenced computingdevices. Accordingly, in order to satisfy a content request, the contentprovider(s) (or any service provider on behalf of the contentprovider(s)) would provide client computing devices data associated withthe Web page and/or data associated with the embedded resources.

Traditionally, a number of methodologies exist which measure theperformance associated with the exchange of data such as in theenvironment described above. For example, some methodologies provide forlimited measurement of performance metrics associated with network sideprocessing of a content request. Other methodologies allow for limitedmeasurement of performance metrics associated with the content requestmeasured from the browser side.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many of the attendant advantages and aspects of the present disclosurewill become more readily appreciated as the same become betterunderstood by reference to the following detailed description, whentaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrative of a performance measurementsystem including a number of client computing devices, a contentprovider, and a processing device;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the performance measurement system of FIG.1 illustrating the process of monitoring and fulfilling resourcerequests;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the performance measurement system of FIG.1 illustrating the process of identifying and providing performancemetric information from a client computing device;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the performance measurement system of FIG.1 illustrating the process of identifying and providing performancemetric information from a content provider;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrative of a performance monitoring routineimplemented by a client computing device for monitoring the performanceassociated with resource requests made by the client computing device;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrative of a performance monitoring routineimplemented by a performance measurement component for furthermonitoring client side performance associated with resource requestsmade by the client computing device;

FIGS. 7A-7C are illustrative user interfaces displaying a variety ofperformance metric information collected by the performance measurementsystem of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrative of a content processing andrecommendation routine implemented by the processing device of theperformance measurement system of FIG. 1 for processing a resourcerequest corresponding to two or more embedded resources and determininga recommended consolidation configuration associated with the two ormore embedded resources; and

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrative of another content processing andrecommendation routine implemented by the processing device of theperformance measurement system of FIG. 1 for processing two or moredistinct resource requests and determining one or more recommended setsof consolidated embedded resources to collectively use for each of thedistinct resource requests.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Generally described, the present disclosure is directed to monitoringthe performance and processing of data exchanges between clientcomputing devices and server computing devices. Specifically, aspects ofthe disclosure will be described with regard to monitoring a dataexchange involving a request by a client computing device for anoriginal resource and two or more corresponding embedded resources anddynamically identifying one or more consolidation configurations to beutilized in conjunction with processing a subsequent requestcorresponding to the content associated with the two or more embeddedresources. Each consolidation configuration includes an identificationof one or mores sets of the two or more embedded resources to beconsolidated. Performance data can then be used to assess performancerelated to processing of the various client requests corresponding tothe content associated with the two or more embedded resources.Additionally, the processed performance data can be used to determinewhether to recommend a particular consolidation configuration to improveperformance of further subsequent client requests for the correspondingcontent. In other aspects of the disclosure, embedded resources whichare common to two or more distinct resource requests can be identifiedand consolidated to test performance associated with each of the two ormore distinct resource requests.

Traditionally, network servers can collect latency informationassociated with a server's processing of a client request for aresource. For example, network servers can measure a time associatedwith processing an incoming client request, identifying/obtaining therequested resource, and initiating the transmission of the resourceresponsive to the client request. Additionally, client computing devicescan collect latency information associated with the client computingdevice's initiation of a resource request and receipt of the resourceresponsive to the request. Aspects of the present disclosure, which willbe described further below, are directed to identifying and providingadditional information to improve the performance assessment related tothe processing of a client request for one or more resources and todynamically identifying and evaluating modifications to the originalrequest, original resource, and/or any embedded resources. Althoughvarious aspects of the disclosure will be described with regard toillustrative examples and embodiments, one skilled in the art willappreciate that the disclosed embodiments and examples should not beconstrued as limiting.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrative of a performance measurementsystem 100 for monitoring the performance and processing of dataexchanges. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the performance measurement system100 includes a number of client computing devices 102 (generallyreferred to as clients) for requesting content from a content provider.As illustrated in FIG. 1, each client computing device 102 includes aclient computing component 104 for requesting content from networkresources in the form of an originally requested resource that mayinclude identifiers to two or more embedded resources that need to berequested. As will be described in greater detail below, the clientcomputing component 104 also identifies performance metrics obtained byclient computing devices and/or components, such as browser softwareapplications. Additionally, the client computing device 102 includes aperformance measurement component 106 that identifies additionalperformance metrics associated with the client request, such as networklevel performance data including, for example, timing of receipt offirst and last network packets of data for fulfilling the originalresource request and each embedded resource request. In one embodiment,the performance measurement component 106 works in conjunction with theclient computing component 104 to collect performance metric informationsuch as from an operating system or a data file.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the client computing component 104 andperformance measurement component 106 are executed on each clientcomputing device 102. Alternatively, the client computing component 104may not be configured, or is otherwise incapable of, obtaining orproviding some or all of the performance metric information describedherein. In such an embodiment, the client computing component 104 mayfunction with a reduced or limited capacity. In still a furtherembodiment, the client computing component 104 may function inconjunction with a separate communication software application (e.g., abrowser software application) to provide the combined functionalitydescribed for the client computing component 104. For example, theclient computing component could correspond to a stand alone softwareapplication, plugin, script, and the like. Additionally, although eachclient computing device 102 is illustrated as having a separateperformance measurement component 106, in an alternative embodiment, theperformance measure component 106 may be shared by one or more clientcomputing devices.

In an illustrative embodiment, the client computing devices 102 maycorrespond to a wide variety of computing devices including personalcomputing devices, laptop computing devices, hand-held computingdevices, terminal computing devices, mobile devices, wireless devices,various electronic devices and appliances and the like. As alsoillustrated in FIG. 1, the client computing devices 102 are consideredto be logically grouped, as represented generally by client 107,regardless of whether the client computing devices are physicallyseparate and geographically distributed throughout the communicationnetwork 114. In this regard, the client computing devices 102 may eachcommunicate directly or indirectly with other computing devices overnetwork 114, such as a wide area network or local network. Additionally,one skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that client 107 can beassociated with various additional computing devices/componentsincluding, but not limited to, content and resource administrativecomponents, DNS resolvers, scheduling devices/components, and the like.

Each of the client computing devices 102 can accordingly includenecessary hardware and software components for establishingcommunications over the network 114. For example, the client computingdevices 102 may include networking components and additional softwareapplications that facilitate communications via the Internet or anintranet. As previously described, the client computing device 102 mayinclude an additional, separate browser software application. The clientcomputing devices 102 may also be associated with, or otherwise include,other computing components, such as proxy applications, for furtherfacilitating communications via the Internet or an intranet. Aspreviously described, the client computing components 104 may eachfunction as a browser software application for requesting content from anetwork resource. Additionally, in an illustrative embodiment, theperformance measurement component 106 of the client computing device 102may function as a proxy application for managing browser applicationcontent requests to the network resource. In other embodiments, theclient computing devices 102 may be otherwise associated with anexternal proxy application, as well as any other additional softwareapplications or software services, used in conjunction with requests forcontent.

With continued reference to FIG. 1 and as set forth generally above, theperformance measurement system 100 may include a content provider 108 incommunication with the one or more client computing devices 102 via thecommunication network 114. The content provider 108 may include a numberof content delivery components 110, such as a Web server component andassociated storage component corresponding to one or more servercomputing devices for obtaining and processing requests for content(such as Web pages) from the client computing devices 102. The contentprovider 108 can further include a performance measurement component 112for measuring performance metrics, such as a time associated withprocessing an incoming client request, identifying/obtaining therequested resource, and initiating the transmission of the resourceresponsive to the client request. One skilled in the relevant art willappreciate that the content provider 108 can include or otherwise beassociated with various additional computing resources, including, butnot limited to, additional computing devices for administration ofcontent and resources, DNS name servers, interfaces for obtainingexternally provided content (e.g., advertisements, Web services, etc.),and the like. Although the performance measurement system 100 isillustrated in a client-server configuration, one skilled in therelevant art will appreciate that the performance measurement system 100may be implemented in a peer-to-peer configuration as well.

With yet further continued reference to FIG. 1, the performancemeasurement system 100 may further include a processing device 116 forcollecting and aggregating performance data related to the processing ofclient requests. The processing device 116 can also be used to assessthe collected performance data and to determine if modifications to theoriginal resource and/or embedded resources should be made to improveperformance for subsequent client requests for the original resourceand/or embedded resources.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the processing device 116 is in communicationwith the one or more client computing devices 102 and the contentprovider 108 via communication network 114. Additionally, as will befurther described below, the processing device 116 may include a metricprocessing component 118 for the collection and aggregation ofperformance data from the client computing devices 102 and/or contentprovider 108, or any other computing devices, as well as for theassessment of performance data. Specifically, in one embodiment, theclient computing components 104 and performance measurement components106 associated with client computing devices 102 provide performancemetric information to the metric processing component 118, while theperformance measurement component 112 of the content provider 108provides performance metric information to the metric processingcomponent 118. The processing device 116 may further include a localdata store 120 for storing the received performance data. It will beappreciated by one skilled in the art and others that metric processingcomponent 118 and data store 120 may correspond to multipledevices/components and/or may be distributed.

One skilled in the relevant art will also appreciate that the componentsand configurations provided in FIG. 1 are illustrative in nature.Accordingly, additional or alternative components and/or configurations,especially regarding additional components, systems and subsystems forfacilitating communications may be utilized.

With reference now to FIGS. 2-4, an illustrative example of theoperation of the performance monitoring system 100 according to someembodiments will be described. For purposes of the example, however, theillustration has been simplified such that many of the componentsutilized to facilitate communications are not shown. One skilled in therelevant art will appreciate that such components may be utilized andthat additional interactions would accordingly occur without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

With reference to FIG. 2, a client computing component 104 initiates acontent request that is intended to ultimately be received and processedby the content provider 108. In an illustrative embodiment, therequested content may correspond to a Web page that is displayed on theclient computing device 102 via the processing of a base set ofinformation, such as hypertext markup language (“HTML”), extensiblemarkup language (“XML”), and the like. The base set of information mayalso include a number of embedded resource identifiers that correspondsto resource objects that should be obtained by the client computingdevice 102 as part of the processing of the requested content. Theembedded resource identifiers may be generally referred to as resourceidentifiers or resource URLs. The request for the base set ofinformation and the subsequent request(s) for any embedded resources maybe referred to generally as a “resource request.”

In one embodiment, prior to initiating a resource request, the clientcomputing component 104 associates a record identifier with the resourcerequest. As will be described further below, the record identifier maybe used to track performance metrics associated with processing therequested resource and any embedded resources. In one example, therecord identifier may be attached to the resource request as a header orotherwise embedded in the request. The client computing component 104then transmits the resource request with the record identifier. However,as will also be described further below, the client computing component104 may alternatively transmit the associated record identifier in aseparate transmission from the resource request.

It will be appreciated by one skilled in the relevant art and othersthat the client computing component 104 may generate the resourcerequest and associated record identifier itself or receive one or theother or both from another storage or computing device. For example,another computing device, such as processing device 116, may be used todetermine whether a test to monitor performance metrics associated withprocessing a particular resource, such as a Web page, should beconducted. In this example, the processing device 116 may send the testrequest, which includes a resource identifier corresponding to thedesired resource request and a record identifier further associated withthe resource identifier, to the client computing device 102.

In one illustrative embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the client computingcomponent 104 initiates the content request by transmitting the resourceidentifier and associated record identifier directly or indirectly tothe performance measurement component 106 of the client computing device102. However, it will be appreciated by one skilled in the relevant artthat, in the alternative, the performance measurement component 106 canotherwise intercept the content request initiated by the clientcomputing component 104.

Continuing with the present example and in further reference to FIG. 2,the performance measurement component 106 receives the resource requestand forwards the resource request on to the content provider 108 viacommunication network 114. Thereafter, the performance measurementcomponent 106 continually monitors performance metrics associated withthe processing of the requested resource, including any embeddedresources. Specifically, in one illustrative embodiment, the performancemeasurement component 106 monitors network level performance metricsassociated with the processing of the requested resource and anyembedded resources, such as timing of receipt of the first and lastbytes (or packets) of data of each request, as well as overallprocessing time associated with the entire resource request includingall embedded resources. The performance measurement component 106 caneither obtain such performance metric information directly from theoperating system of the client computing device 102 or through theclient computing component 104. The performance measurement component106 associates the monitored performance metrics with the recordidentifier.

As further illustrated in FIG. 2, the content provider 108 receives theresource request from the client computing device 102 and processes theresource request using content delivery components 110, such as a Webserver. The content provider 108 can also use a performance measurementcomponent 112 to monitor performance metrics associated with processingthe incoming client request, identifying/obtaining the requestedresource, and initiating the transmission of the resource responsive tothe client request. As shown in FIG. 2, upon obtaining the requestedresource, the content provider 108 initiates transmission of therequested resource to the client computing device 102.

In this illustrative example, the performance measurement component 106at the client computing device 102 obtains the requested resource,continues monitoring the processing of the requested resource, andforwards the requested resource to the client computing component 104.For example, the performance measurement component 106 may serve as aproxy application for receiving the requested resource or otherwiseintercepting the requested resource. The client computing component 104also tracks performance metrics associated with the processing of therequested resource. Upon receipt of the requested resource, the clientcomputing component 104 begins processing the content for display on amonitor or other display device associated with the client computingdevice 102. Alternatively, the client computing component 104 canprocess the content for sending to any other component or externaldevice (e.g., a framebuffer). As will be further described below, theabove described functions apply to the processing of the originallyrequested resource, as well as any embedded resources.

With reference now to FIG. 3, the client computing component 104 and theperformance measurement component 106 of the client computing device 102can each identify performance metric information that the respectivecomponents have monitored and/or collected. The performance metricinformation from the client computing component 104 may include avariety of information, such as process information, memory information,network data, resource data, client computing component information,including page setups, browser rendering information, state variables,and other types of information. In one specific example, the performancemetric information may include information regarding a time at which aparticular resource was rendered on a Web page, its location on thepage, whether the resource was rendered on the device display, and thelike. The performance metric information from the performancemeasurement component 106 of the client computing device 102 can alsoinclude a variety of information as similarly set forth generally above.In one specific example, the performance metric data may include networkstatistics, latencies, bandwidths, and data arrival times, such as thetiming of receipt of first and last packets of information for therequested resource and each embedded resource. In another specificexample, the performance metric information can include timinginformation associated with processing executable resources, such asJavaScript, as well as additional information that can be used toindirectly determine processing times associated with the execution ofthe resource once the executable code has been obtained.

The performance metric information from the client computing component104 and/or the performance measurement component 106 of the clientcomputing device 102 can also include basic resource information, suchas an identification of the resource type, a link to a header associatedwith the requested resource, a size of a transmission responsive to theresource request, including a size of the header as well as a size of apayload corresponding to the actual requested resource, anidentification of a domain from which the resource was requested, andthe like. Even further, the performance metric information can includeunderlying computer resource information, such as a resolution of thedisplay of the client computing device 102, a version of the browserapplication software, an identification of any plugins associated withthe browser application software, an identification of any updates tothe operating system of the client computing device 102, and the like.Even further, the performance metric information can include informationregarding the location of the client device 102 (such as an IP address),servers associated with the content provider 108, and the like.

Still further, the performance metric information can include anidentification of limitations and/or restrictions associated withprocessing resource requests using client computing device hardwareand/or software. For example, the performance metric information caninclude identification of a threshold number (e.g., a maximum, aminimum, a range, and the like) of simultaneous connections to a domain.As another example, the performance metric information can includeidentification of an order associated with initiating embedded resourcerequests.

With continued reference to FIG. 3, the client computing component 104and the performance measurement component 106 of the client computingdevice 102 provide the identified performance metric informationtogether with the associated record identifier of the requested resourceto the metric processing component 118 of the processing device 116 viathe communication network 114. The metric processing component 118 thenprocesses the received performance metric information to assessperformance related to the processing of the client request for theoriginal resource and any embedded resources. The processed performancemetric information can be used to support modifications to the originalresource and/or embedded resources to improve performance for subsequentclient requests for the original resource. As will be appreciated by oneskilled in the art and others, the processing device 116 can store thereceived and/or processed performance metric information in local datastore 120, or any other data store distributed across the network 114.Additionally, as will be further described below in reference to FIGS.7A-7C, the processing device 116 can cause the display of the processedperformance metric information to a user of the system for furtherassessment.

In one illustrative embodiment, once the client computing component 104completes processing of the requested resource and any embeddedresources, the client computing component 104 identifies performancemetric information that the client computing component 104 monitoredand/or otherwise collected related to such processing. In this example,the client computing component 104 provides the identified performancemetric information with the record identifier associated with therequested resource to the metric processing component 118. Upon receiptof this information, the metric processing component 118 then requestsany further performance metric information related to the requestedresource and any embedded resources from the performance measurementcomponent 106 of the client computing device 102. In response, theperformance measurement component 106 of the client computing device 102identifies and provides performance metric information with the recordidentifier associated with the requested resource to the metricprocessing component 118. The metric processing component 118 can usethe record identifier to aggregate the received performance metricinformation. It will be appreciated by one skilled in the art and othersthat the identified performance metric information may be transmitted tothe metric processing component 118 by a number of alternativemethodologies and/or components.

With reference now to FIG. 4, in one illustrative embodiment, theperformance measurement component 112 of the content provider 108 canidentify performance metric information that it has collected related tothe processing of the requested resource and/or any embedded resource.The performance measurement component 112 provides the identifiedperformance metric information to the metric processing component 118 ofthe processing device 116 via communication network 114. As will beappreciated by one skilled in the art and others, the performancemeasurement component 112 of the content provider 108 can provide theperformance metric information upon request from the processing device116 or upon completing its processing of the requested resource. As willbe described further below, the processing device 116 can then aggregatethe performance metric information from all components for displaying,processing, storing, or otherwise assessing performance related to theprocessing of the requested resource.

In one illustrative embodiment, the metric processing component 118processes the performance metric information received from some or allnetwork components (e.g., client computing component 104, performancemeasurement component 106 of the client computing device 102, and/orperformance measurement component 112 of the content provider 108, andthe like) to assess performance related to the processing of the clientrequest for the original resource and any embedded resources. Aspreviously mentioned, the processed performance metric information canbe used to support modifications to the original resource and/orembedded resources to improve performance for subsequent client requestsfor the original resource. For example, and as will be described furtherbelow in reference to FIG. 8, the metric processing component 118 canuse the processed performance metric information associated with theoriginal resource and, in this case, two or more embedded resources todynamically determine a consolidation configuration associated with thetwo or more embedded resources to improve performance. As will also befurther described below, in making such a determination, the metricprocessing component 118 can further take into consideration performancemetric information collected and associated with subsequent resourcerequests for the original resource and the content associated with thetwo or more embedded resources using such alternative consolidationconfigurations, as well as performance selection criteria which can beobtained from the original content provider.

With reference now to FIG. 5, one embodiment of a performance monitoringroutine 500 implemented by the client computing component 104 of theclient computing device 102 will be described. One skilled in therelevant art will appreciate that actions/steps outlined for routine 500may be implemented by one or many computing devices/components that areassociated with the client computing device 102. Accordingly, routine500 has been logically associated as being generally performed by theclient computing device 102, and thus the following illustrativeembodiments should not be construed as limiting.

At block 502, a client computing component 104 identifies an originalresource request. As previously mentioned, the client computingcomponent 104 can generate the original resource request or receive theoriginal resource request from another computing device, such asprocessing device 116. In one example, the original resource request maybe for a Web page, such as http://example.com. At block 504, the clientcomputing component 104 associates a record identifier (RID) with theoriginal resource request. The RID may be a unique identifier associatedwith the original resource request. As will be further described below,the RID can also be associated with any embedded resources included in aresponse to the original resource request. Even further, although notillustrated, in an alternative embodiment, in the event that the clientcomputing component 104 does not need a RID, the client computingcomponent 104 may not associate a RID with the resource request as shownat block 504.

At block 506, the resource request is transmitted to another entity. Inthis example, the resource request is transmitted to the performancemeasurement component 106 of the client computing device 102. Aspreviously mentioned, the performance measurement component 106 canalternatively intercept the transmission request as it is being routedto a content provider 108 for example. In one illustrative embodiment,the resource request may itself contain the RID, such that the resourcerequest and associated RID are transmitted as part of the sametransmission. For example, the RID may be included as a portion of theresource URL used to request the resource. Alternatively oradditionally, the RID may be transmitted in a second communication,either before or after the transmission including the resource request.For example, a “start new request group” command, including the RID maybe issued before or after the initial resource request. In one furtheralternative embodiment, the client computing component 104 may notinclude a RID with the issuance of a “start new request group” command,and in this case, the performance measurement component 106 maygenerate, or otherwise obtain, such a RID upon receipt of the “start newrequest group” command.

Continuing at block 508, a determination is made at the client computingcomponent 104 regarding whether any additional resources need to berequested to fulfill the original resource request. As appreciated byone skilled in the relevant art, a response to the original resourcerequest may be returned to the client computing component 104 whichincludes a number of resource URLs corresponding to a number of embeddedresources required to fulfill the original resource request. In oneembodiment, if such additional resources are identified, processingreturns to block 506 where the client computing component 104 transmitsone or more requests for the identified embedded resources with the RIDassociated with the original resource request.

Alternatively or additionally, the client computing component 104 mayassign a component record identifier (CRID) to each request for anembedded resource at optional block 510. In this example, whenprocessing returns to block 506, the client computing component 104 maytransmit the one or more embedded resource requests with therespectively assigned CRIDs. In an illustrative embodiment, the requestsfor embedded resources may be transmitted with respective CRIDs alone ortogether with the RID of the original resource request. As embeddedresource requests (or component requests) are fulfilled, the returnedcontent is processed by the client computing component 104. It will beappreciated by those skilled in the art and others that a response to anembedded resource request may include links to further embeddedresources. As such, the functionality associated with blocks 506-510 maybe repeated as described above until no resource requests areoutstanding and no more additional resources need to be requested.

It will be appreciated by one skilled in the relevant art that resourcerequests are processed by the client computing device 102 in accordancewith logic associated with the particular configuration of the browsersoftware application. For example, the browser software application maybe limited by a number of resource requests that may be made at onetime, an order associated with the type of requests that may by made, anorder based on a predetermined location for the requested resources on adisplay screen, or other limitations provided in the requested baseresource.

Once the client computing component 104 determines at block 508 that noadditional resources need to be obtained to fulfill the originalresource request or any subsequent embedded resource request, processingcan continue at optional block 512. At block 512, a termination command,such as “end new request group”, may be transmitted to indicate that therequest, including requests for all embedded resources, has completed.Such a termination command may provide closure to a “start new requestgroup” command, if one were issued as part of the first iteration ofblock 506. In this example, the start/termination commands may bereceived and used by the performance measurement component 106 todetermine which requested resources are associated with a particularoriginally requested resource.

At block 514, once the client computing component 104 has completedprocessing the requested original resource and any embedded resources,the client computing component 104 provides monitored performance metricinformation to processing device 116. The client computing component 104monitors such performance metric information throughout the processingof the original resource request from initiation of the originalresource request to final rendering of the requested resource and anyembedded resources. The performance metric information can include, forexample, timing data associated with the initiation of each request,receipt of a response to each request, and rendering of each requestedresource, a size of a header and a payload associated with a responsivetransmission corresponding to each requested resource, as well as otherinformation as described herein. The routine 500 ends at block 516.

With reference now to FIG. 6, one embodiment of a performance monitoringroutine 600 implemented by the performance measurement component 106 ofthe client computing device 102 will be described. One skilled in therelevant art will appreciate that actions/steps outlined for routine 600may be implemented by one or many computing devices/components that areassociated with the client computing device 102. Accordingly, routine600 has been logically associated as being generally performed by theclient computing device 102, and thus the following illustrativeembodiments should not be construed as limiting.

At block 602, the performance measurement component 106 of the clientcomputing component 100 receives (or intercepts) an original resourcerequest from the client computing component 104. In one illustrativeembodiment, the performance measurement component 106 receives the RIDwith the original resource request. Alternatively, the RID may beprovided as a part of a separate transmission, and accordingly, in thiscase, the performance measurement component 106 receives the RIDseparately. At block 604, the performance measurement component 106associates the RID with the original resource request. In accordancewith other embodiments discussed above, the original resource requestmay be preceded or followed by a command or instructions, such as a“start new request group” command. Such commands may be transmitted withor without a RID, as set forth above. If such commands are received atthe performance measurement component 106 without a RID, the performancemeasurement component may generate, or otherwise obtain, a RID toassociate the original resource request at block 604.

Continuing at block 606, the original resource may be requested, such asby proxying or forwarding the resource request to the content provider108 via network 114. The resource request may be modified from itsoriginal form before sending, such as by stripping headers including theassociated RID. The performance measurement component 106 also monitorsthe processing, including fulfillment, of the resource request at block606. For example, the performance measurement component can identifyperformance metric information related to the initiation of the resourcerequest, the receipt of first and last bytes of data for each requestedresource and any embedded resources, the receipt of responsive content,and the like. As will be appreciated by one skilled in the relevant art,once a response to the resource request is received at the performancemeasurement component 106, the response is returned to the requestingapplication.

At block 608, a determination is made by the performance measurementcomponent 106 regarding whether a subsequent resource request related tothe original resource request has been made by the client computingcomponent 104 and accordingly received (or intercepted) by theperformance measurement component. If a subsequent embedded resourcerequest (which may bear the same RID as the original resource request,an appropriate CRID, and/or be within a start/stop command window) isreceived, processing continues at block 610. At block 610, theperformance measurement component 106 requests any embedded resourcesand monitors the processing of the requested embedded resources assimilarly described above in reference to the originally requestedresource and block 606. The functionality associated with blocks 608-610may be repeated as described above until no resource requests areoutstanding.

If the performance measurement component 106 determines that no moreoutstanding resource requests remain at block 608, processing continuesat block 612. Specifically, the performance measurement component 106provides monitored performance metric information to processing device116. The performance measurement component 106 monitors such performancemetric information throughout the processing of the original resourcerequest, from initiation of the original resource request to finalrendering of the requested resource and any embedded resources. Theperformance metric information may include, for example, timing dataassociated with the initiation of each request, receipt of a response toeach request, and receipt of first and last packets of data for each ofthe original resource request and any embedded resource requests, aswell as other additional information as described herein.

In one illustrative embodiment, the performance measurement component106 can identify performance metric information for providing to theprocessing device 116 in a variety of ways. For example, in oneembodiment, the performance measurement component 106 can storeperformance measurement information in a log file together withidentifiers to associate performance metric information withcorresponding resource requests. In this example a set of requestedresources may be joined by common RIDs, common CRIDs, associated CRID(e.g., where each component has a distinct CRID, but the distinct CRIDsof a single group have been associated or otherwise linked together,such as by a RID). In another illustrative embodiment, the performancemeasurement component can retrieve performance metric information from alog file based on timing information associated with a resource request.For example, a set of requested resources may be defined as theresources requested or fulfilled between a start command and an endcommand, or between an original resource request (inclusive) and a stopcommand. The routine 600 ends at block 614.

With reference now to FIG. 7A, an illustrative user interface 700generated by the processing device 116 for displaying a variety ofperformance metric information collected, or otherwise identified, bythe performance measurement system 100 of FIG. 1 will be described.Generally, the user interface 700 shown in FIG. 7A provides a graphicalside-by-side comparison of the performance metric information identifiedfor the originally requested resource and some or all requested embeddedresources. The user interface 700 may also be provided over the network114 for display on other computing devices.

With reference to FIG. 7A, the user interface 700 may be utilized todisplay a set of time-based events for a set of resources. For example,the user interface 700 may graphically represent an order of time-basedevents for an originally requested resource and for each subsequentrequest for embedded resources. More specifically, the user interface700 includes a legend 702 identifying, for a number of resource types, agraphical indicator corresponding to a number of time-based events 704,706, 708, 710, and 712 involved in processing a request for theresource. The resource types identified in the legend 702 include HTMLresources, image (IMG) resources, and JavaScript (JS) resources.However, it will be appreciated that a number of alternative oradditional resource types can be identified. For each resource type, thelegend 702 provides a distinct color-coded indicator corresponding to atransition period and/or transition event(s) occurring between eachidentified event 704, 706, 708, 710, and 712. In one embodiment, thedistinct indicators may be visual in nature, such as color-coded,cross-hatched, or the like. In another embodiment, instead of using adistinct indicator for each transition period and/or transition event(s)associated with each resource type as illustrated in FIG. 7A, a distinctindicator may be used simply for each transition period and/ortransition event(s) regardless of the resource type.

In an illustrative embodiment, events 704, 706, 708, 710, and 712correspond to the following time-based events identified by theperformance metric information. Event 704 identifies a Start Eventrepresenting a time at which the corresponding resource was known to berequired by the client computing component 104. Event 706 identifies aNetStart Event representing a time at which the corresponding resourcewas actually requested by the client computing component 104. The timingof the NetStart Event may not be the same as the Start Event if, forexample, the browser software application limits the number ofconcurrent connections with a particular domain. Event 708 identifies aFirst Byte Event representing a time at which the first byte (or firstpacket) of the requested resource is received by the performancemeasurement component 106 of the client computing device 102. Event 710identifies a Last Byte Event representing a time at which the last byte(or last packet) of the requested resource is received by theperformance measurement component 106 of the client computing device102. Finally, event 712 identifies a Render Event representing a time atwhich the client computing component 104 finishes rendering therequested resource.

A second portion 730 of the user interface 700 corresponds to arepresentation illustrating the occurrence of each of the time-basedevents 704, 706, 708, 710, and 712 for all or some of the resourcesrequested in resolving the original resource request. In one embodiment,the representation horizontally corresponds to time and verticallycorresponds to an ordered listing of the requested resources. In oneexample, the order can specifically correspond to an order in which therequested resources are initially identified by the client computingcomponent 104. In addition, the second portion 730 of the displayincludes a variety of additional information adjacent to the time-basedevent representation for each resource. For example, in a first column732, a resource type for each resource may be provided, e.g., HTML,image, CSS, JavaScript, and the like. In a second column 734, a link toa header corresponding to each requested resource may be provided. In athird column 736, an HTTP response status code corresponding to eachrequested resource can be provided. Code 200, for example, is indicativeof a standard response for successful HTTP requests. Finally, in afourth column 738, the size of each resource may be provided.

In another embodiment, yet further additional information may bedisplayed in the user interface 700. For example, the user interface 700may display the total processing time, both numerically and graphically,associated with processing the original resource request including anyembedded resource requests. In this example, an indicator 740 mayillustrate a starting time while an indicator 746 may illustrate anending time, both associated with the processing of the originalresource request as a whole. Additionally, when the original resourcerequest is a request for a Web page, the user interface 700 mayillustrate a time, both numerically and graphically, at which allresources have been rendered in a portion of a Web page which isinitially visible to a user without scrolling. This portion of the Webpage is often referred as an “above the fold,” “above the scroll,” or“above the crease” portion. An indicator 744 in the user interface 700of FIG. 7A illustrates an “above the fold” (ATF) event.

The foregoing performance metric information provided in the userinterface 700 may be identified and/or collected by a combination of theclient computing component 104 and/or the performance measurementcomponent 106 of the client computing device 102. However, it will beappreciated by those skilled in the art and others that additionalperformance metric information can be displayed. Such additionallydisplayed performance metric information can be obtained by the clientcomputing device 102, by the performance measurement component 112 ofthe content provider 108, or based on further processing of any of theidentified and/or collected performance metric information. It will yetfurther be appreciated by one skilled in the relevant art that eachresource and/or each type of resource may be associated with all or onlya portion of the above-described events and/or performance metricinformation. In addition, other events and/or indicators associated withthe other events may be used and illustrated in the user interface 700.

In one specific example, an executable resource, such as a JavaScriptresource, is not rendered and, accordingly, neither a Render Event 712nor an associated indicator illustrating the transition between a LastByte Event 710 and a Render Event 712 will be illustrated in the userinterface 700 for that executable resource. However, the processingdevice 116 can indirectly determine and display a processing timeassociated with execution of the code once the code itself is obtained(i.e., receipt of the last byte of the code which corresponds to theLast Byte Event 710). Such processing time is inferred in the userinterface 700 of FIG. 7A by illustration of a gap formed between thereceipt of the last byte of code associated with a first JavaScriptresource at 750 and the start event associated with a subsequentlyrequested JavaScript resource at 752. Alternatively, an additional eventand/or associated indicator could be used to specifically identify theprocessing time associated with execution of the code.

By providing and displaying the foregoing performance metric informationas set forth above, a user of the processing device 116 can readilyevaluate the performance associated with processing the originallyrequested resource, including any embedded resources. In particular, theuser interface 700 can help a user identify any problems associated withthe processing of the originally requested resource, as well asdetermine one or more solutions to the identified problem. Solutions forimproving performance may include, for example, making changes to thecontent itself, to the organization of content within the originallyrequested resource, to the client computing component, and the like.

Additionally, the user interface 700 can be used to illustrate arecommendation associated with the processed and displayed performancemetric information. For example, and as will be described further below,the processing device 116 may dynamically identify one or moreconsolidation configurations to be utilized in conjunction withprocessing a subsequent request corresponding to the content associatedwith the two or more embedded resources and initiate testing of thesubsequent request. As similarly set forth above with respect to theoriginal base resource request, the user interface 700 can be used todisplay performance metric information associated with the processing ofeach of these subsequent requests. In addition, the user interface 700can be used to display a recommendation identifying a particularconsolidation configuration which, for example, has been tested anddemonstrated improved performance associated with processing therequested resources.

FIG. 7B illustrates the performance associated with processing a requestfor another original resource and two or more embedded resources. Anexamination of the performance data illustrated and provided inreference to FIG. 7B indicates that eight relatively small embeddedimage resources 750, 752, 754, 756, 758, 760, 762, and 764 are provided.Each embedded resource has a corresponding payload or file associatedwith the actual requested content. Additionally, during transmission tothe client computing device 102, each embedded resource also has acorresponding header 734 which adds processing overhead to thetransmission. In general, the processing overhead associated with eachrequested resource can be attributed to various aspects associated withthe resource request over the network. In the foregoing example, theprocessing overhead is associated with file attributes, specifically aheader-to-payload size ratio. Additionally, the processing overhead caninclude overhead associated with the network (e.g., a network portion ofthe processing overhead), including for example a possible DNS look-up,establishing a TCP connection, tearing down the TCP connection, and thelike. Based on the provided performance data, and as described furtherbelow in reference to FIG. 8, the processing device 116 may identify oneor more consolidation configurations to be utilized in conjunction withprocessing a subsequent request corresponding to the content associatedwith the two or more embedded resources. Each such consolidationconfiguration includes an identification of one or mores sets of the twoor more embedded resources to be consolidated.

In further reference to FIG. 7B, the processing device 116 may, forexample, identify a consolidation configuration in which embeddedresources 750, 752, 754, 756, 758, 760, 762, and 764 are to beconsolidated. A number of factors, as will also be described furtherbelow, can be used to identify such consolidation configuration. Forexample, the size of the headers and payloads corresponding to embeddedresources may be one set of factors used for identifying a consolidationconfiguration for the system 100 to test, as well as for determining afinal consolidation configuration to recommend. In particular,consolidating embedded resources that each individually has a highprocessing overhead based on the file attributes (i.e., a relativelysmall payload or actual file size compared to the corresponding headersize) may provide enhanced performance associated with processing therequested content. In general, consolidating two or more embeddedresources results in a single consolidated embedded resource fileassociated with a single network connection during transmission to theclient computing device 102. Accordingly, by consolidating embeddedresources, the processing overhead associated with headers canessentially be shared. By further testing use of such consolidatedembedded resources in the context of a subsequent request for thecorresponding content, the processing device 116 can determine whether aparticular consolidation configuration indeed offers enhancedperformance benefits or offers a particular desired level of enhancedbenefits.

FIG. 7C illustrates the performance associated with processing asubsequent request utilizing the consolidation configuration identifiedin reference to FIG. 7B (i.e., consolidating embedded resources 750,752, 754, 756, 758, 760, 762, and 764 illustrated in FIG. 7B into asingle consolidated embedded resource corresponding to the samecontent). Accordingly, the user interface 700 in FIG. 7C illustratesperformance information associated with a single consolidated embeddedresource 770. In this example, as illustrated by a comparison of theprocessed performance information depicted in FIGS. 7B and 7C, the useof the identified consolidation configuration improved performanceassociated with processing a request for the corresponding contentassociated with the two or more embedded resources. This result isdemonstrated by the overall reduced processing time associatedtherewith. In one embodiment, the user interfaces illustrated in FIGS.7B and 7C can be provided to the content provider along with a specificrecommendation, for example, to consider using the consolidationconfiguration associated with FIG. 7C in order to improve performance.

As generally set forth above, a number of factors may influence theidentification of a particular consolidation configuration to be tested,as well as the actual performance associated with processing a requestusing the identified consolidation configuration. Such factors mayinclude, for example, a number of embedded resources corresponding tothe original resource request, a size of the headers and payloadscorresponding to each embedded resource, a bandwidth of the dataconnection over which the request is made and resource is returned, athreshold number of simultaneous connections permitted to a domain, anorder of requesting the embedded resources, a location associated witheach of the embedded resources on a display screen, and the like.

With respect to some factors, it may be possible to associate thefactor's influence on performance to predict the expected result thatthe combination of that factor will have with respect to using aparticular consolidation configuration. However, it may not always bepossible to predict the influence the combination of factors will havewith respect to using a particular consolidation configuration. Becausesuch factors may influence the overall processing performance associatedwith a request using a particular consolidation configuration, thedetermination of a recommended consolidation configuration that achievesthe best or desired level of performance for a request for the contentassociated with the two or more embedded resources will be analyzed by areview of the performance information resulting from the associated testcases. Accordingly, in one embodiment, the determination of aconsolidation configuration associated with two or more embeddedresources may be a function of the overall performance information,which may inherently be a function of a combination of the abovefactors, for example.

Information regarding these factors may be explicitly provided by theprocessing device 116 and/or may be inferred from other performance dataprovided or illustrated in the user interface 700. For example, in oneembodiment, a size of the headers and payloads corresponding to eachembedded resource may be explicitly identified in the user interface 700depicted in FIG. 7B. In another embodiment, instead of being explicitlyprovided, the size of the headers and payloads corresponding to eachembedded resource may be estimated or inferred from other information,such as the timing information associated with an initial request for anembedded resource and a return of the last byte of informationassociated with the embedded resource.

With reference now to FIG. 8, one embodiment of a content processing andrecommendation routine 800 implemented by the processing device 116 ofthe performance measurement system 100 will be described. One skilled inthe relevant art will appreciate that actions/steps outlined for routine800 may be implemented by one or many computing devices/components thatare associated with the processing device 116. Accordingly, routine 800has been logically associated as being generally performed by theprocessing device 116, and thus the following illustrative embodimentsshould not be construed as limiting.

At block 802, the processing device 116 identifies a consolidationconfiguration to be utilized to process a request for content associatedwith two or more embedded resource. The consolidation configurationincludes an identification of one or more sets of the two or moreembedded resources to be consolidated. Accordingly, at block 802, theprocessing device 116 also identifies one or more sets of the two ormore embedded resources to be utilized to process a request for thecorresponding content. The processing device 116 can take intoconsideration a variety of information for identifying a consolidationconfiguration. For example, in one embodiment, the processing device 116can receive a request from a content provider to test a specificallyidentified consolidation configuration in order to assess performanceassociated with processing the resource request using the identifiedconsolidation configuration. In another embodiment, the processingdevice 116 can dynamically identify, based on previously processedperformance metric information associated with a first request for anoriginal resource and two or more embedded resources, a consolidationconfiguration that could be used to process a subsequent requestcorresponding to the content associated with the two or more embeddedresources and to possibly offer improved performance. Alternatively, inyet another embodiment, the processing device 116 may automaticallydecide to test, and hence identify, a consolidation configurationregardless of the assessed performance associated with processing thefirst resource request for the original resource and two or moreembedded resources.

The processing device 116 can take into consideration a number offactors in identifying, for testing purposes, a consolidationconfiguration to be associated with the two or more embedded resources.As similarly set forth above, such factors include, for example, anumber of embedded resources corresponding to the original resourcerequest, a size of the headers and payloads corresponding to eachembedded resource, a bandwidth of the data connection over which therequest is made and resource is returned, a threshold number ofsimultaneous connections permitted to a domain, an order of requestingthe embedded resources, a location associated with each of the embeddedresources on a display screen, and the like.

In addition or alternatively, the processing device 116 can take intoconsideration a variety of other performance selection criteria. Theperformance selection criteria can include, for example, quality ofservice information, cost information associated with processing aresource request using a particular consolidation configuration, and thelike. The quality of service information can include informationregarding reliability, service level quality, transmission errors, andthe like. Specifically, in one embodiment, the processing device 116 canobtain performance selection criteria from the content provider 108. Thecontent provider 108 may want the processing device 116 to only testconsolidation configurations which meet a minimum quality of servicelevel or which would only cost a specified amount to implement. Inanother embodiment, the content provider 108 may have other performancecriteria restrictions associated with a quality of service, such aswanting the processing device to only test consolidation configurationsthat consolidate embedded references originally located above the fold.

At block 804, once the processing device 116 identifies a consolidationconfiguration to use in processing a request corresponding to contentoriginally associated with two more embedded resources, the processingdevice 116 enables the request to be processed using the identifiedconsolidation configuration. Specifically, in one embodiment, theprocessing device 116 consolidates each of the one or more sets of thetwo or more embedded resources to be consolidated to create one or moreconsolidated embedded resource files, such as one or more CSS spritefiles. The processing device 116 also determines configurationinformation for enabling the use of the one or more consolidatedembedded resource files in a request corresponding to the contentassociated with the original two or more embedded resources. Theprocessing device 116 uses the configuration information to prepare thesystem for processing and transmitting content using the one or moreconsolidated embedded resource files.

In one illustrative embodiment, where the resource request correspondsto a request for a Web page, the processing device 116 can continue touse the original resource identifier for the original resource request.In this embodiment, the content provider 108 continues to maintain andprovide the HTML code that is responsive to the original resourcerequest. However, in one example, a content provider, or other serviceprovider on behalf of the content provider, can be prepared to provideone or more consolidated embedded resources identified in the HTML codereturned by the content provider 108. Accordingly, the processing device116 can modify at least a portion of the HTML code by replacingreferences to the two or more embedded resources that are to beconsolidated with one or more resource identifiers corresponding to theone or more consolidated embedded resources.

In another embodiment, the processing device 116 can store the HTML codeof the Web page to be tested on a local server. In this case, theprocessing device 116 re-writes the original resource identifier toquery the processing device 116 (or associated Web server) for therequested resources. For example, the processing device 116 can modifythe original resource identifier ashttp://www.processingdevice.com/contentprovider.com/path/resource.xxx.In this embodiment, the processing device 116 would provide the modifiedHTML that would include one or more consolidated embedded resourceidentifiers.

Returning to FIG. 8, at block 806, the processing device 116 theninitiates the resource request associated with content to be processedusing the identified consolidation configuration by requesting that theclient computing device 102 initiate the query. As similarly describedabove, the client computing device 102 monitors and collects performancedata associated with the processing of the resource request and providesthe performance data to the processing device 116. Accordingly, at block810, the processing device 116 obtains and processes the performancedata from the client computing device 102. The obtained performance datais associated with the processing of the resource request using theconsolidation configuration to provide the content associated with thetwo or more original embedded resources.

Next, at block 812, a determination is made whether any additionalconsolidation configurations should be used to process a requestcorresponding to the content associated with the two or more originalembedded resources and, accordingly, be tested to determine how the useof the additional consolidation configurations may affect theperformance associated with processing such a request. If an additionalconsolidation configuration is to be identified, then processing returnsto block 802 and the foregoing process in reference to blocks 802-812 isrepeated as described above. If no additional consolidationconfiguration is identified, processing continues at block 814.

At block 814, the processing device 116 dynamically determines arecommended consolidation configuration to be associated with the two ormore embedded resources based on the obtained and processed performancedata. Additionally or alternatively, the processing device 116 can takeinto consideration a number of factors in determining a recommendedconsolidation configuration to be associated with the embeddedresources. Again, as similarly set forth above, such factors include,for example, a number of embedded resources corresponding to theoriginal resource request, a size of the headers and payloadscorresponding to each embedded resource, a bandwidth of the dataconnection over which the request is made and resource is returned, athreshold number of simultaneous connections permitted to a domain, anorder of requesting the embedded resources, a location associated witheach of the embedded resources on a display screen, and the like.

Even further, the processing device may, additionally or alternatively,take into consideration performance selection criteria in thedetermination of a recommended consolidation configuration. As alsosimilarly mentioned above, the performance selection criteria can beobtained from a content provider 108 and can include quality of serviceinformation, cost information, and the like. As also set forth above,the quality of service information can include information regardingreliability, service level quality, transmission errors, and the like.In one example, the processing device 116 can determine that aconsolidation configuration corresponding to the best performance datais the determined consolidation configuration. Alternatively, a contentprovider 108 may not want to implement the best performing consolidationconfiguration for processing and/or transmitting content, but ratherwants to consider a cost benefit analysis. For example, a contentprovider 108 may only want to consider implementing a consolidationconfiguration that attains a certain level of enhanced performance, suchas those that meet a threshold decrease in processing time.

In addition to determining the consolidation configuration to beassociated with the two or more original embedded resources, theprocessing device 116 can also generate a recommendation identifying thedetermined consolidation configuration or provide an evaluation of allof the tested consolidation configurations together with arecommendation of the determined consolidation configuration. Suchrecommendations and/or evaluations can then be provided to the contentprovider 108. The processing device 116 can also generate and providere-written HTML code to the content provider 108 for utilizing thedetermined consolidation configuration. The processing device 116 canalso generate and provide code associated with the one or moreconsolidated embedded resources identified by the consolidationconfiguration, such as in the form of one or more CSS sprite files. Theroutine ends at block 816.

With reference now to FIG. 9, another embodiment of a content processingand recommendation routine 900 implemented by the processing device 116of the performance measurement system 100 will be described. The routine900 is similar in many ways to the routine 800, with the main exceptionbeing that routine 900 is directed at identifying embedded resources toconsolidate which are common to two or more distinct original resources(e.g., two or more Web pages having at least a portion of distinctcontent).

One skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that actions/stepsoutlined for routine 900 may be implemented by one or many computingdevices/components that are associated with the processing device 116.Accordingly, routine 900 has been logically associated as beinggenerally performed by the processing device 116, and thus the followingillustrative embodiments should not be construed as limiting.

At block 902, the processing device 116 identifies common embeddedresources corresponding to the HTML code returned in response to two ormore distinct resources requests. For example, for a Web site having twoor more associated Web pages, the processing device 116 identifies theembedded resources that are common to each page. Next, at a block 904,the processing device 116 identifies one or more sets of two or more ofthe common embedded resources to be consolidated. The processing device116 then enables the embedded resources corresponding to each distinctresource request to be processed using the identified one or more setsof consolidated embedded resources at block 906. This process is similarto that discussed above in reference to block 804 of FIG. 8, but differsin that the enablement must occur for each distinct resource (e.g., Webpage) to be requested.

Continuing with FIG. 9, at block 908, the processing device 116initiates each of the distinct resource requests associated with contentto be processed using the one or more consolidated embedded resources byrequesting that the client computing device 102 initiate the queries. Assimilarly described above, the client computing device 102 monitors andcollects performance data associated with the processing of each of thedistinct resource requests and provides the performance data to theprocessing device 116. Accordingly, at block 910, the processing device116 obtains and processes the performance data corresponding to eachdistinct request from the client computing device 102.

Next, at block 912, a determination is made whether any different setsof the two or more common embedded resources should be consolidated andused to process the two or more distinct resource requests and,accordingly, be tested to determine how the use of the different sets ofconsolidations may affect the performance associated with processingsuch requests. If a different set of consolidations is to be identified,then processing returns to block 904 and the foregoing process inreference to blocks 904-912 is repeated as described above. If noadditional set of consolidations is identified, processing continues atblock 914.

At block 914, the processing device 116 dynamically determines arecommended consolidation of embedded resources to be applied to thecommon resources corresponding to the two or more distinct resourcerequests based on the obtained and processed performance data. As alsosimilarly set forth above, the processing device 116 can take intoconsideration a number of factors in determining such a recommendation.Additionally or alternatively, the processing device 116 may take intoconsideration performance selection criteria in the determination ofsuch a recommendation.

Again, as similarly set forth above, in addition to determining aconsolidation of embedded resources, the processing device 116 can alsogenerate a recommendation identifying the determined consolidation orprovide an evaluation of all of the tested consolidations together witha recommendation of the determined consolidation. Such recommendationsand/or evaluations can then be provided to the content provider 108. Theprocessing device 116 can also generate and provide re-written HTML codeto the content provider 108 for utilizing the determined consolidations.The processing device 116 can also generate and provide code associatedwith the one or more consolidated embedded resources identified by theconsolidation, such as in the form of one or more CSS sprite files. Theroutine ends at block 916.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art and others that whileprocessing, monitoring, and other functions have been described hereinas being performed at various components of the client computing device102 and/or the processing device 116, these functions can be distributedacross one or more computing devices. In addition, the performancemetric information monitored at the client computing device 102 can bemaintained globally by the client computing device 102 and shared withall or some subset of the components of the client computing device 102.

It will further be appreciated by those skilled in the art and othersthat all of the functions described in this disclosure may be embodiedin software executed by one or more processors of the disclosedcomponents. The software may be persistently stored in any type ofnon-volatile storage.

Conditional language, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” or“may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understoodwithin the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certainembodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certainfeatures, elements and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is notgenerally intended to imply that features, elements and/or steps are inany way required for one or more embodiments or that one or moreembodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without userinput or prompting, whether these features, elements and/or steps areincluded or are to be performed in any particular embodiment.

Any process descriptions, elements, or blocks in the flow diagramsdescribed herein and/or depicted in the attached figures should beunderstood as potentially representing modules, segments, or portions ofcode which include one or more executable instructions for implementingspecific logical functions or steps in the process. Alternateimplementations are included within the scope of the embodimentsdescribed herein in which elements or functions may be deleted, executedout of order from that shown or discussed, including substantiallyconcurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionalityinvolved, as would be understood by those skilled in the art.

It should be emphasized that many variations and modifications may bemade to the above-described embodiments, the elements of which are to beunderstood as being among other acceptable examples. All suchmodifications and variations are intended to be included herein withinthe scope of this disclosure and protected by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for monitoring performance associatedwith processing a resource request, the system comprising: a clientcomputing component associated with a client computing device, whereinthe client computing component is operable to determine a first set ofperformance data associated with processing a resource request, whereinthe resource request corresponds to two or more embedded resources; aperformance measurement component associated with the client computingdevice, wherein the performance measurement component is operable todetermine a second set of performance data associated with processingthe resource request; and a processing component operable to: obtain,from the client computing component, the first set of performance dataassociated with processing the resource request; obtain, from theperformance measurement component, the second set of performance dataassociated with processing the resource request; identify one or moreconsolidation configurations to be utilized in conjunction with asubsequent resource request based on processing overhead associated withat least a portion of the embedded resources, wherein each consolidationconfiguration includes an identification of one or more sets of the twoor more embedded resources to be consolidated and wherein the subsequentresource request corresponds to content associated with the two or moreembedded resources; for each consolidation configuration: consolidateeach of the one or more sets of the two or more embedded resources to beconsolidated; cause an initiation of the subsequent resource requestassociated with the consolidation configuration; and obtain, from theclient computing component and the performance measurement componentperformance data related to processing of the subsequent resourcerequest; and dynamically determine a recommended consolidationconfiguration to be associated with the two or more embedded resourcesbased on the first and second sets of performance data and theperformance data related to processing the subsequent resource request.2. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the processing component isfurther operable to generate code for the recommended consolidationconfiguration.
 3. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein theprocessing component is operable to identify one or more consolidationconfigurations based on an estimated performance benefit.
 4. The systemas recited in claim 1, wherein the processing component is operable toconsolidate each of the one or more sets of the two or more embeddedresources as a CSS sprite file.
 5. The system as recited in claim 1,wherein dynamically determining a recommended consolidationconfiguration, by the processing component, is based on performanceselection criteria.
 6. The system as recited in claim 5, wherein theperformance selection criteria includes quality of service information.7. The system as recited in claim 5, wherein the performance selectioncriteria includes cost information associated with processing thesubsequent resource request.
 8. The system as recited in claim 1,wherein the processing component is further operable to obtainperformance selection criteria from the content provider.
 9. A methodcomprising: identifying one or more consolidation configurations to beutilized in conjunction with processing a request originallycorresponding to two or more embedded resources, wherein eachconsolidation configuration includes an identification of one or moresets of the two or more embedded resources to be consolidated; for eachof the one or more consolidation configurations: consolidating each ofthe one or more sets of the two or more embedded resources to beconsolidated; causing an initiation of a subsequent request associatedwith the consolidation configuration; and obtaining performance datarelated to processing of the subsequent request associated with theconsolidation configuration; and dynamically determining a recommendedconsolidation configuration to be associated with the two or moreembedded resources based on the performance data.
 10. The method asrecited in claim 9, wherein obtaining performance data related toprocessing of the subsequent request associated with the consolidationconfiguration comprises: obtaining, from a client computing component,performance data associated with a record identifier, wherein theperformance data is associated with processing the subsequent requestassociated with the consolidation configuration; obtaining, from aperformance measurement component, performance data associated with arecord identifier, wherein the performance data is associated withprocessing the request and includes timing information as to the receiptof the first and last bytes of data for each embedded resourceassociated with the subsequent request associated with the consolidationconfiguration; and associating the performance data from the clientcomputing component and the performance measurement component using therecord identifier.
 11. The method as recited in claim 9 furthercomprising generating a recommendation to use the determinedconsolidation configuration to process a further subsequent requestcorresponding to the content associated with the two or more embeddedresources.
 12. The method as recited in claim 9 further comprisinggenerating code for the two or more embedded resources to be processedusing the determined consolidation configuration.
 13. The method asrecited in claim 9, wherein identifying one or more consolidationconfigurations is based on an estimated performance benefit.
 14. Themethod as recited in claim 9, wherein identifying one or moreconsolidation configurations is based on a header size and a payloadsize corresponding to each embedded resource of the two or more embeddedresources.
 15. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein consolidatingeach of the one or more sets of the two or more embedded resourcescomprises generating a CSS sprite file for each of the one or more setsof the two or more embedded resources.
 16. The method as recited inclaim 9, wherein dynamically determining a recommended consolidationconfiguration is further based on performance selection criteria. 17.The method as recited in claim 16, wherein the performance selectioncriteria includes quality of service information.
 18. The method asrecited in claim 16, wherein the performance selection criteria includescost information.
 19. The method as recited in claim 9 furthercomprising obtaining, from a content provider, performance selectioncriteria.
 20. The method as recited in claim 19, wherein dynamicallydetermining a set of domains is further based on the performanceselection criteria provided by the content provider.
 21. A methodcomprising: obtaining, from a client computing device, performance dataassociated with processing a first resource request, wherein the firstresource request corresponds to two or more embedded resources;dynamically identifying one or more consolidation configurations to beutilized in conjunction with processing a subsequent requestcorresponding to content associated with the two or more embeddedresources, wherein each consolidation configuration includes anidentification of one or more sets of the two or more embedded resourcesto be consolidated; and for each of the one or more consolidationconfigurations: obtaining performance data related to processing of thesubsequent request associated with the consolidation configuration; anddynamically determining a recommended consolidation configuration to beassociated with the two or more embedded resources based on theperformance data associated with processing the subsequent request usingeach of the identified one or more consolidation configurations.
 22. Themethod as recited in claim 21, wherein obtaining performance dataassociated with processing the first resource request comprises:obtaining, from a client computing component, performance dataassociated with a record identifier, wherein the performance data isassociated with processing the first resource request; obtaining, from aperformance measurement component, performance data associated with arecord identifier, wherein the performance data is associated withprocessing the resource request and includes timing information as tothe receipt of the first and last bytes of data for each embeddedresource associated with the first resource request; and associating theperformance data from the client computing component and the performancemeasurement component using the record identifier.
 23. The method asrecited in claim 21, wherein dynamically identifying one or moreconsolidation configurations to be utilized in conjunction with thesubsequent request is based on the obtained performance data.
 24. Themethod as recited in claim 21, wherein dynamically identifying one ormore consolidation configurations to be utilized in conjunction with thesubsequent request comprises processing the obtained performance dataand dynamically identifying one or more consolidation configurations tobe utilized in conjunction with the subsequent request if the processedperformance data fails to meet a predetermined level of performance. 25.The method as recited in claim 21, wherein identifying one or moreconsolidation configurations is based on an estimated performancebenefit.
 26. The method as recited in claim 21, wherein identifying oneor more consolidation configurations is based on a header size and apayload size corresponding to each embedded resource of the two or moreembedded resources.
 27. The method as recited in claim 21, whereindynamically identifying one or more consolidation configurations to beutilized in conjunction with the subsequent request is based onperformance selection criteria.
 28. The method as recited in claim 27,wherein the performance selection criteria includes quality of serviceinformation.
 29. The method as recited in claim 27, wherein theperformance selection criteria includes cost information associated withprocessing the subsequent request.
 30. The method as recited in claim 21further comprising obtaining, from the content provider, performanceselection criteria, wherein dynamically identifying one or moreconsolidation configurations to be utilized in conjunction with thesubsequent request is based on the obtained performance selectioncriteria.
 31. The method as recited in claim 21 further comprising: foreach of the one or more consolidation configurations: consolidating eachof the one or more sets of the two or more embedded resources to beconsolidated.
 32. The method as recited in claim 31, whereinconsolidating each of the one or more sets of the two or more embeddedresources comprises generating a CSS sprite file for each of the one ormore sets of the two or more embedded resources.
 33. The method asrecited in claim 21 further comprising: for each of the one or moreconsolidation configurations: causing an initiation of a subsequentrequest associated with the consolidation configuration.
 34. The methodas recited in claim 21 further comprising providing a recommendation forprocessing a further subsequent resource request based on a comparisonof the performance data associated with processing the first resourcerequest with the performance data associated with processing thesubsequent request using each of the identified one or moreconsolidation configurations, wherein the further subsequent resourcerequest corresponds to the content associated with the two or moreembedded resources.
 35. The method as recited in claim 21, whereindynamically determining a recommended consolidation configuration isfurther based on the performance data associated with processing thefirst resource request.
 36. The method as recited in claim 21, whereindynamically determining a recommended consolidation configuration isfurther based on performance selection criteria.
 37. The method asrecited in claim 36, wherein the performance selection criteria includesquality of service information.
 38. The method as recited in claim 36,wherein the performance selection criteria includes cost information.